North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster the nation’s nuclear capabilities “without limit” to counter the threats posed by the security partnership between the US and its allies in the region, North Korean state media reported Monday.
Speaking at a conference of battalion commanders, Kim urged his military to complete war preparations after sending thousands of troops to Russia to help its war on Ukraine and accused the US of prolonging the conflict by supplying weapons to support Kyiv.
“The US, Japan and South Korea will never get away from the responsibility as the culprits of destroying the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region,” Kim said, referring to a partnership he called an “Asian version of NATO.”
“The most important and critical task for our armed forces is preparations for a war,” Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim’s comments follow US President Joe Biden’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Lima, Peru. Biden said coordinated efforts were essential for “countering North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia.”
To back up its nuclear threat, Pyongyang last month tested what it described as a new intercontinental ballistic missile that achieved a record flight as it looks to enhance its ability to strike the US and its allies in Asia. Kim also showed off a plant to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs.
Kim said the US is prolonging the war in Ukraine by providing weapons to Kyiv and dragging more countries into the conflict, generating concern of a World War III. He did not refer to combat troops from North Korea that have been sent to Russia to help President Vladimir Putin’s war efforts.
North Korea has so far sent more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Putin’s army in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have occupied part of the border territory since a surprise incursion in August.
Pyongyang may end up deploying as many as 100,000 troops to aid Russia’s war on Ukraine if the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow continues to deepen, according to people familiar with assessments made by some Group of 20 nations. Such a move isn’t imminent and would likely happen in batches with troops rotating over time rather than in a single deployment, they added.
The US and South Korea have also repeatedly accused Kim of sending munitions and ballistic missiles to aid Putin’s war, with South Korea estimating that as many as 8 million rounds have been sent.
The growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow have emboldened Kim to ramp up hostility toward South Korea, while raising fears about North Korea’s ability to strengthen its military and sustain its regime with Russian backing.
Kim’s decision to send North Korean troops to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine has alarmed Kyiv’s allies, who’ve warned that it risks exacerbating what is already Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.
Some leaders will likely raise the issue of North Korean military involvement, including with China, at the G-20 leaders summit that begins Monday in Brazil.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times.
